Dan Aykroyd wants Ghostbusters 3

December 6th, 2012

Dan Aykroyd is ''cheerleading'' for a third 'Ghostbusters' film.

The 60-year-old actor wrote and starred in the original 'Ghostbusters' in 1984, as well as its 1989 sequel 'Ghostbusters II', and has been trying to get a third film in the series off the ground for several years.

A script for the proposed third film has been written several times, but Dan says he and director Ivan Reitman are happy with the latest draft, penned by 'Men in Black 3' writer Etan Cohen, and are ready to move forward with the film.

He told Esquire.com: ''I've worked on every draft in the last three years, as Ivan has, and now we have a story and a draft that everybody seems to agree would make the third movie. At this point, I think we're closer than we ever have been.

''And because of the ever-shifting sands and nature of the motion-picture business, I will just say that hopefully, at some point, it will be morphing into what is known in the business as a 'production number XP39789'.''

The actor-and-writer continued that while film studio Sony has yet to green-light the project, he's so confident in the movie - which he hopes will be the start of a trilogy featuring a new generation of Ghostbusters - he believes it would gross over $100 million at the box office.

He added: ''Now, this would add quite a bump to Sony's bottom line, quite a bump. If they make this movie, in its current shape, they would be looking at a pretty hefty, nine-figure return. And so I'm hoping they get on to move it, but if they don't, I have multiple trains. I've got tracks six, seven, and nine, and that's four. I'll be moving on to other things, as will Ivan, by the way.''

''We can't wait forever. And now's the time to tell the picture company, and I'd say this quite publicly, it's time now to sit down and make this movie, or you will lose your main principals, and you won't be able to make it without us, because we have rights, and now is time to make the movie.''